IMMEDIATE, Tuesday
August 30, 2011
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced today a new pilot project to benefit those who buy property in five counties:
- Cortland
- Essex
- Orange
- Onondaga
- Tompkins
The counties and the state partnered to launch a new easy-to-use online real property transfer form. When fully implemented, the new form will save taxpayers $250,000 in state costs, and result in additional savings by municipal and county governments.
Form RP-5217-PDF will modernize the filing process for all parties involved in the sale of real estate. The new form is electronic and can be easily downloaded on any computer that has Internet access. It replaces the existing paper-only "quadruplicate" property transfer form, which users must order from the state.
The new form also eliminates redundant data entry and associated errors. Until now, identical data was entered as many as four times by local and state staff without standardized data sharing among governmental bodies.
"This pilot project reduces state and local costs for taxpayers and modernizes a part of the closing process for property sales," said New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox. "It is an excellent example of the results that can be achieved when state and local governments work together toward a common goal."
Background
The Real Property Transfer Report is filed with deeds whenever real estate is transferred from one party to another. Often, the form is completed by the buyer's attorney and signed at the property closing. The attorney then files the deed and Real Property Transfer Report at the County Clerk's Office.
Property buyers and their attorneys in the five counties can now access Form RP-5217-PDF through the link below and download it to their computers. Once the data about the sale is entered into the form, the data will be captured in a barcode on the form. The form can then be printed, signed, and presented to the County Clerk, along with the other required documents and fees.
During the pilot period of 3 to 6 months, the counties will accept both the old quadruplicate form and the new one-part form.
More information regarding Form RP-5217-PDF is available from the Web site of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, where users can also download the form